WASHINGTON – The Gallaudet University women's volleyball team played five tough sets before they fell to St. Mary's (Md.) College, 3-2, in front of a spirited and packed Field House on homecoming weekend.

The Bison (18-12) won the first set 25-12 as they took an early lead as junior TraciAnn Hoglind (Fishers, Ind.) served six straight to give the Bison a 7-1 advantage over the Seahawks (14-8). However, the Seahawks turned the tables and took an early 7-2 lead in the second set. The Bison regained the lead, but struggled to stay ahead and lost the second set 23-25.

In the third set, sophomore Giuletta Maucere (Frederick, Md.) had a kill to end the set 25-21. Once again in the fourth set the Bison took the lead late in the set but were unable to keep pace with the Seahawks and lost the set, 23-25. The thrilling fifth set was back-and-forth the entire set and the Bison fought hard before St. Mary's pulled off a 19-17 win.

Without the help of lead scorer, Kali Frowick (Norfolk, Neb.), others were stepping up to play big for the Bison. Senior Julia Wolff (Belleville, Ontario) had an unmatched 21 kills on the night out of 32 attempts, giving her a .594 attack percentage. Junior Danielle Morris (St. Louis, Mich.) had 11 kills,and freshman Kylene Etkie (Austin, Texas) had nine kills, 14 digs, and four service aces.

The Bison struggled serving, 15 service errors, but had 13 service aces led by freshman Darriyan Thomas (Vallejo, Calif.) with five aces and a team-high 23 digs. Junior Kate Fetzer (Noblesville, Ind.) had two aces while Hoglind and Wolff added one each. Hoglind also had 48 of the team's 51 assists and helped the team with 10 digs.

The Bison volleyball team will play Wednesday, Oct. 29, against out of conference opponent Catholic University of America (20-10) in the Field House at 7 p.m.